Learn about John B. Southard Sr

John Blackburn Southard Sr

born: May 30, 1915 in Luzerne, Ky (Muhlenberg County)

mother: Belle Lee Luckett (Southard) (1877-1957), Muhlenberg CO

father: Volna Blackburn Southard (1878-1923), Ohio County KY

grandparents:
P: Willis Hickman Southard (1857-1927) & Nancy M. Hocker (Southard) (1848-1924), Ohio County KY
M: John M. Luckett, Jr (1828-1887) & Sarah Catherine Wickliffe (Luckett) (1841-1911), Muhlenberg CO. KY

great grandparents:
Bryson Southard (1833-90) & Susan Southard (Southard)(1834-64)
John B. Hocker (1810-1844) & Mary Ellen Leach (Hocker)
John M. Luckett, Sr (1777-1864) & Elizabeth Beaver (Luckett)
John D. Wickliffe (1799-1870) & Rachel Oates (Boggess) (Wickliffe)

siblings:
Mary Catherine Southard (1905-1909)

Ruby Nell Southard (Darr) (1911-1979)

The GREAT DEPRESSION: Soon after John's father passed, the Great Depression hit the nation. Work was scarce, the stock market plummeted. Parents stood in soup lines to get food for their children. Belle, Ruby Nell & John were greatly helped by family. Volna's sister, Susan Southard Chapman, and her husband brought them food and clothing. As a boy, John worked any and every job he could find. He was happy if he earned a $1 a day. His Uncle Hub moved onto the farm to help with farm labor. Belle signed the farm title over to John & Ruby Nell to keep creditors from taking it.

education: Greenville Grade School, Greenville High School, and the University of Kentucky. There were only 44 students in John's high school graduating class. He played football at Greenville. In one game he was hit so hard his two front teeth were knocked out. They couldn't be reattached at the time, so implants were used in place of his own teeth. John attended U of K at the end of the Great Depression. He earned his college tuition by waiting tables. He bartered his room & board by helping a widow with odd jobs. He painted, built, repaired anything she needed. To avoid the expense of purchasing textbooks, he checked them out of the U of K King Library. When a textbook was due, a friend would return to the library with him and immediately check the book back out for John.

childhood residence: Luzerne, KY in Muhlenberg County

Veteran:
Served in the United States Army during World War II. Basic training was in California. Stationed in the Panama Canal area. He was on a small island on the Pacific Ocean side of the canal. He was with the Signal Corp, running radar to patrol for possible Japanese attacks.

married: Dorothy Elizabeth Wolfe in Hopkinsville, KY in June 1946

children:

John Blackburn Southard Jr (1947)- (2010)

Elizabeth "Betty" Ann Southard (Stokes) (1950-)

residence: Louisville, Kentucky

career: After graduating from U of K, John was an agriculture teacher in White Mills, Kentucky at the high school. He interviewed and won a position with the Department of Agriculture Farm Security Program approving federal loans for farmers. WWII: Because of military service with the U.S. Army, John had to give up that job. Following the World War II, he was in sales & PR with both Ballard Feed Company and Pillsbury Feed Division. When both of these companies dropped their agriculture programs, John returned to education. He temporarily taught at Southern High School, Jefferson County Public Schools. When a librarian position opened at LaGrange Reformatory, John took it. He ran the prison library, counseled prisoners, and taught the GED program. John also was the landlord of a duplex on Willow Avenue and owner of a laundry mat on Baxter Avenue.

grandchildren: Leslie Ann Stokes (1977), Amy Elizabeth Stokes (1980), John Willard Southard (1980), James Robert Southard (1982), and Joseph Michael Southard (1985)

great-grandchild: Emma Jane Southard (2008) and Olivia Leigh Southard (2010)

honors: deacon of both Middletown Baptist Church and Woodlawn Baptist Church

died: February 27, 1984 (age 68)